


Blades of Grass

by zarabithia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Force-Sensitive Shmi Skywalker, Gen, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 06:11:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16235801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: Shmi is not yet five years old when the strange man  falls out of the sky.





	Blades of Grass

**Author's Note:**

> For now, it's just a ficlet. It may be expanded someday, though.

Shmi is not yet five years old when the strange man falls out of the sky.

At least, that is very much the way it looks to her. She is squatting in the grass, trying to find some sort of berries to help with the food that the camp doesn’t have. She knows she is supposed to keep an eye out, because “bad men will come and take you away.” That is what Mama says. Daddy said it a lot, too, before he was taken away.

But she is busy focusing on the way that the little blades of grass split beneath her fingers - that’s a new cool trick - and she does not notice the man until he falls literally right into the grass in front of her.

Startled, she jumps back as he sits up, and she starts to run in the opposite direction.

“Always run, even if it takes me away from you,” Mama says. “Run as hard as you can from strangers, Shmi.”

But as Shmi’s feet start to move, she has one of weird dreams that she’s not supposed to tell anybody about. “Nobody cares about space wizard mojo on the outer rim,” Daddy had said, before he hadn’t run fast enough and he’d been taken away.

Shmi doesn’t tell, but that doesn’t make them stop. They happen so often, and she doesn’t understand them. There are large, scary monsters who slink around and hold chains. There are big blue flying bugs with angry voices. There are kind men with gray hair and long robes, and there is a woman who looks so much like Mama who is kneeling and hugging a little boy. There is also so much blackness and fire.

But this time, as she turns to run, the “daytime dream” happens again, and this time, it’s a vision of someone looking a lot like Mama kneeling beside a small boy with red hair. It’s enough to make her stop and rub her head.

It’s enough time for the man to come up behind her. She should try to run again, but … it doesn’t feel right to run. It feels right to stay, no matter what Mama tells her.

She turns to look up at him, and the eyes that look down at her are the same ones that had been in her strange daytime dream, even if the hair is far too white to match the little red-haired boy.

Besides, he looks like he needs help, and helping people is good. They help each other, back in the camp, when they aren’t running away from men who might be bad.

“Who are you?” she asks.

It seems very important to know who he is. Most of the time, it’s more important to know who people are not. 

The question startles him, and he looks like he doesn’t know the answer. He must really need help.

“My name is Obi-Wan,” he says, and he offers his hand.

“I’m Shmi,” she says. She thinks for a minute before she takes his hand. Something happens when she does that and shaking the man’s hand makes her feel as happy as she does when she hugs Mama. “Shmi Skywalker.”

The man lets go abruptly. “Oh. Oh, for the love of the Force.”

“What’s the Force?” Shmi asks.

“I’m not sure I’m supposed to tell you,” Obi-Wan says. “But… maybe I am. Maybe that’s why I am here.”

“Don’t you know why you’re here?” Shmi asks. “Are you here to get slaves?”

The man closes his eyes for a long time, and Shmi wonders if he’s taking a nap. It’s dangerous to do that out here. You can get taken.

“Mister,” she says after he is still for far too long. “It’s not safe to sleep out here. Bad men are everywhere. Hutts and stuff.”

“Shmi,” he says, opening his eyes at last. “You aren’t going to be a slave. I promise.”


End file.
